Heparin functionalized polyaspartamide/polyester scaffold for potential blood vessel regeneration

An interesting issue in tissue engineering is the development of a biodegradable vascular graft able to substitute a blood vessel and to allow its complete regeneration. Here, we report a new scaffold potentially useful as a synthetic vascular graft, produced through the electrospinning of α,β‐poly(N‐2‐hydroxyethyl) (2‐aminoethylcarbamate)‐ d , l ‐aspartamide‐graft‐polylactic acid (PHEA‐EDA‐ g ‐PLA) in the presence of polycaprolactone (PCL). The scaffold degradation profile has been evaluated as well as the possibility to bind heparin to electrospun fibers, being it a known anticoagulant molecule able to bind growth factors. In vitro cell compatibility has been investigated using human vascular endothelial cells (ECV 304) and the ability of heparinized PHEA‐EDA‐ g ‐PLA/PCL scaffold to retain basic fibroblast growth factor has been evaluated in comparison with not heparinized sample. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 102A: 1334–1341, 2014.